Flint-made board game, The Great Heartland Hauling Co., is released

Griffin Moores | MLive.com
Jason Kotarski, of Dice Hate Me Games, poses next to an early version of the game he created called The Great Heartland Hauling Co. in the offices of the Flint Journal in Flint, Mich. on Wednesday, August 23, 2012.
8/23/12 , Michigan

FLINT, MI -- The Great Heartland Hauling Co., the trucking-based board game designed by Flint resident Jason Kotarski, is now ready for your kitchen table.

"It feels really good," Kotarski said of the release. The Great Heartland Hauling Co. is the first game he's had published.

Kotarski finished the game design in 2012. In the game, players move semi-trucks around the board, drawing cards to buy, haul, and sell different goods, amassing points.

The game was officially released March 29 and he said that Gamers Sanctuary in Flint has ordered the game and that it's also available on gamesalute.com.

"It’s been received really well. It’s been getting really good reviews," Kotarski said.
"They said it’s a good enough game for people who aren't as crazy about games as I am."

He was particularly happy about a video review by game reviewer Tom Vasel, who said he was pleased to see a delivery-based game "doesn't have anything to do with medieval Europe or the Mediterranean. ... It's about time. I still don't understand why more games can't have this delivery theme in the modern era."

Keeping the game simple, Kotarski said, was the idea from the beginning.

"That’s the kind of game that I really like. I can get something on the table and I can teach it five minutes and we can be playing," he said. "I don’t people to think games are only for the super committed."